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AMA/COMPAC luncheon Kate Alfano, CMS Communications Coordinator
Physicians honor two exemplary state legislators, hear forecast of post-election climate COMPAC honored two exemplary state legislators at the 2016 AMA/COMPAC luncheon held during the CMS Annual Meeting in September: Sen. Chris Holbert, a Douglas County Republican and chair of the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, and Rep. Angela Williams, a Denver Democrat and chair of the House Business Committee and the Legislative Black Caucus. Williams was recently elected to the state Senate seat vacated by her term-limited successor. They received the “Champions of Physicians and Patients” award. Mark B. Johnson, MD, COMPAC chair, introduced them by speaking about the ideals of politicians: to have moral courage under pressure, principled stands and skilled advocacy. “These two highly regarded legislators personify these ideals, manifested in this circumstance on health care policy conflicts of immense importance to the medical community.” “Sen. Holbert has been central to diverting to an interim discussion a health plan initiative that would have capped and indexed out-of-network charges, and applied his considerable influence and policy knowledge to persuade the plans and state regulators to take a broader view,” Johnson said. “He sees the long game, and will undoubtedly lead the next iteration of this debate on setting the guidelines for fair, transparent rules of engagement as the plans build and manage their networks.” “Rep. Williams is a comparable profile in political courage, steadfastly taking the defendant’s position in pretty much every effort by Colorado’s trial attorneys
TOP: L-R: COMPAC Chair Mark B. Johnson, MD; CMS General Counsel Susan Koontz, JD; Sen. Chris Holbert; Rep. Angela Williams; and CMS lobbyist Jerry Johnson. BOTTOM LEFT: Richard Deem, senior vice president of the AMA Advocacy Group, speaks about federal issues. RIGHT: Floyd Ciruli gives a forecast of state and federal races in the context of the presidential election. to expand liability or dismantle current protections and process in Colorado tort law. She carried our requested legislation from our Clean Claims Task Force and is an advocate for a range of CMSsupported public health and safety ini-
Colorado Medicine for November/December 2016
tiatives, more recently the 72-hour mental hold bill,” Johnson said. Both legislators thanked COMPAC for
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